, 1887-11-03

per IL u man II he does his work well
and pays his way, and IL infinitely
higher In the scale Of being than
the sO-called professional man who
apes respectability and pOmpOus dig
nifty at the expense Of others. SOci-
ETY. does not so look at things |
know. Often the spindle.legged
dude, with his glasses on his nose,
worn to be seen rather than tn see,
win look with contempt upon the
man using the pick and shovel, while
the latter Is his superior In every re-
spect. The belle Of the town might
with pride recognize the salutatiOn
of u society fop Of the WadswOrthian
type, living on lies and schemes,
while insulted by the attempted
modest attention of real and noble
man In unpretentious garb. Appar-
ent polite uemeanor, precise and set
manners, and surface COurteousncsI,
without a grain OF manhood, often
wins its way to the confidence and
affection OF the superficial sO.culled
society.
Some people, sad to think, deem
themselves honored by the attention
Of the out utwardly polite and snowy,
though they be demons in moral
character.
There is nothing that needs to be
thundert d into the ears of the people
more than the "Character above pO-
sitiOn, character above wealth, char.
acter above genius, character above
ALL" The dignity of labor Is evil
dent from the fact that work Is a
duty.
The law OF God says, "Six days
shalt thou work." 1t Is as much a
duty to work six days as 1T Is to rest
on the seventh. We had u battle to
fight with the false philosophy OF II
former generation in order to main
tain he dignity Of work. There
were those who insisted that labor
was dishonorable and degrading,
that the laborng classes ought to be
servile classes. That fallacy has
been pretty effectually exploded by
gun powder. Yet there are many
who entertain the same opinion to.
day, and we cannot but believe that
the aim of many capitalists Is to re-
duce all Wage-workers to the state of
servlity.
wrong in one person hf wing another
to work for him, but It is wrong for
a person to- hrve others do all his
work for him. 1t is not optional with
anyone who Is able whether he works
or not. 1t Is dishonorable for him
not to work. Idlenpss il not only
inexpedient and wastefnl, but yib.
latiOn of the Divine command. "It
is sin put by the Divine law giver
into the same category with image.
worship and blasphemy, and theft,
and murder, and impurity, and
sharing with these sins the displeas-
ure of God"
Labor is not the penalty of sin.
Man in his original and Sinless state
had garden to work in. indispo,i.
tiOn to work is the result of sin. Its
a hard disease. 1t matters not what
the diaase Is II it overcome man.
Though work Is not the penalty of
sin. II has doubtless made work more
difficult, painful and hazardous. The
whole creation grOaneth and travel
leth 'under its burden OF toll" Yet
work Is honorable and elpvating
when Legitimate. There are occupa-
tions that are demOralizing. To
live upon the vices If others Is. To he
engaged in IA business that is liable
w o'httS 10
That Is why | say that every legiti-
mate occupation is honorable and
elevating.
The word labor is very compre-
hensive. Some in working, exercise
their muscles primarily, others their
brains. They are all workers. The
tendency Of this age is to substitute
brain for muscle. Many things tha,
dana h,
done by machinery. There is no use
mind, not brain or muscle. Civiliza-
tion aud progress necessitates this
1t Is in the line of mans develop
ment for intelligence to show It's su.
periorily over brute force. Bpa-tinv
in brute force is one of the relics Of
barbarisn. "There Is spirit in man
and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth him Understandings The
IN tterial Of man must he subordinate
To the spiritual, the latter Will some
time obtain complete ascendency
over the natural forces Of the world.
This development from the natural
to the spiritual must involve ComDli-
cations. They are .he unavoidable
complications incident to- civilian
= '''' '''N' ''' ti'Si'S' VI IIItHNlIlit
Henry George has treated well in
the analogy between the develop
ment Of society and species. In the
IL west form of animal life there is
but little difference of parts, and the
wants are few. AS thry rise i'm the
scale Of being one part becomes more
dependent on another, and their
wants become more numerous, so in
society as it rises the wants increase.
Compare the civilized and unciviIiz.
ed nations, Indian and society man.
| say again, ID is nonsense to fight
he machines. Civilization cannot
well exist without them. They have
doubtless their disad vantages, but
he ad vantages are far more nuIner-
,ns. In hundreds " cases they have |
.ightened the burden OF the labor !
ing man. This they are intended /
to do and will dO-more and more.
What they have done already en-
courage us to look on to the time